In the blink of an eye a year had passed in the charmed clearing among the pine trees, the maidenhairs and the bamboo thickets.
There was little seasonal variation, and the weather flowed in odd patterns. It would be cold when Wu Yun thought it would be nice to huddle in front of a fire, or to see the ground covered in a blanket of white, and it would be sunny and warm whenever he wanted to swim in the river, which was most days.
Wu Yun kept track of time by cutting slashes on the doorframe.
Today Wu Yun counted all his tallies and they added up to one year.
One year, he could scarcely believe it.
Should he and Lan Tian celebrate it in some way? He doesn't know any of these things, and it's just the two of them in the clearing, they haven't been celebrating any holidays. They don't even know what month it is.
